Ventilating apparatus



May 18, 1937. F. c. KlLB 2,081,108

VENTILATING APPARATUS Filed April 9, 1936 INVENTOR Pea/v00 6. [a5

W 7&11 A ORNEY Patented May -l8, 1937 PATENT OFFICE VENTILATING APPARATUS Francis 0. Kilb, Larclimont, N. Y., assignor to American Radiator Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application April 9, 1936, Serial No. 73,461

5 Claims.

My invention relates to ventilating apparatus and more particularly to mechanism for operating a damper for controlling the flow of air through such an apparatus. Objects of my invention are comprised in the provision of an improved form of damper operating mechanism for ventilating apparatus which is simple in construction, which is inexpensive to manufacture, which provides for holding the damper at any selected one of a number of positions, and one which, in its preferred embodiment, projects a minimum distance beyond the enclosing casing of the ventilating apparatus.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of parts, to be more fully described hereinafter, and the novelty of which will be particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, to be taken as a part of this specification, I have fully and clearly illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, in which drawing- Fig. 1 is a transverse vertical sectional view showing. the application of my invention to one form of ventilating apparatus;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the damper operating mechanism shown in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a detail vertical section taken on'the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Referring now in detail to the construction illustrated, the reference numeral H1 indicates a casing for a ventilating apparatus arranged partially in front of and partially beneath a hollow window sill II for a wall of a room. The hollow window sill ll provides a passage 12 connecting the interior of the casing, through an opening l3, with the outside atmosphere. A damper I4 is pivotally mounted as indicated at l5 within the opening "and serves to control the flow of fresh air into an inlet chamber 16 of the casing III.

A motor-driven blower unitis mounted within the casing l9 and operates to force the fresh air from the inlet chamber l6 through an outlet chamber l8 and through outlet openings 49 in the upper portion of the casing and into the room. A filter 20 is suitably arranged behind the blower unit l1 and serves to eliminate dust particles from the entering fresh air. A suitable heating unit 2| is disposed in the lower part of the outlet chamber l8 of the casingv l0. Room air enters the casing through an opening (not shown) in the lower portion of the casing, and is heated as it passes over the surfaces of the heating unit 2| and the heated air flows upwardly into the room through the outlet openings l9, previously mentioned.

The damper I4 is connected by means of an extensible link means 25 with a damper-operating mechanism indicated generally by the reference character 26, and secured to the outside front wall of the casing.

The damper-operating mechanism 26 is constructed preferably as a unit and comprises a lever 21 fulcrumed by a pin 28 carried by the outer end of spaced brackets 29, the latter being fixed to and extending interiorly from a supporting plate 30. One end of the lever 21 is pivotally connected to the end of the link 25 remote from the damper M. The lever includes an operating element 3| which extends exteriorly of the casing through a suitable slot formed in the supporting plate 38. The supporting plate 30 is secured to the front of'the casing within an opening 32 in the exterior wall structure thereof by means of a clamping 1 plate 33 and screws 34, the peripheral edges of thesupporting plate 30 and clamping plate 33 engaging the peripheral edges of the wall structure defining the opening 32.

-As stated, the lever 21 is fulcrumed by a pin 28 carried by the inner ends of spaced brackets 29. The lever 21 is arranged between the brackets 29 and is provided with a longitudinally extending slot 35 which receives the fulcrum pin 28. The fulcrum pin and slot connection provide for arcuate movement of the lever about the pin 28 and. provide for. longitudinal movement of the lever a distance limited by the length of the slots 35.

The operating element 3| may be considered as a part of the lever or as a separate element. The element 3| is in the form of afiat sector-shaped plate 36 which is fixed. at one end to an end of the lever 21 and is formed with oppositely arranged arcuate edge surfaces 38 and 39 which are substantially concentric with arcs described by points on the lever 21 when moved about its fulcrum pin 28; The arcuate surface 38 is provided with a series of notches 40 and the supporting plate 30 is provided with a tongue element ll fixed thereto and adapted to engage any selected one of the notches 40.

In order to assure engagement of the tongue 4| with the selected one of the notches 40 and ment 4| and fixed to the supporting plate so.

' The springs 44 serve to urge the lever 21 longitudinally to eifect engagement of the tongue element 4| with a selected one of the notches ll. From the above description, it will be readily seen that in order to move the damper, the operating element 3! is simply grasped by the hand and the lever easily moved lengthwise of its slot 15 so that the defining wall surfaces of the notches 0 will clear the tongue element 4|. In this position, the lever 21 can be easily moved about its fulcrum pin 2! to adjust the position of the damper to-any point desired. The lever may then be released and the springs will quickly effect the engagement of the tonguewith the adjacentnotch;

The operating element ll is preferably in the form of an arcuate-shaped sector so that it will protrude into the room a minimum distance when it is at its extreme outer position, which is the position shown in full lines. The lever'fl with its pin and slot connection with the brackets 29 provides for easily moving the damper II in.

either direction and for movement of the lever lengthwise to effect engagement and disengagement of the tongue member and notches so that the damper may be held at any desired position. The springs 44 also provide against accidental disengagement of the tongue and notches.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:--'-

1. Operating mechanism for a damper comprising, in combination, a support member; a lever member adapted to be operatively connected to the damper; fulcrum means connecting saidlever member and said support member and providing for arcuate movement of said lever member about an axis and for limited movement of said lever member in a lengthwise direction; said lever member including an operating element adapted to be grasped by hand to effect arcuate movement of said lever member about its fulcrum axis and to effect said limited lengthwise movement of said lever member; one of said members having a plurality of notches formed therein and being arranged in an arc substantially concentric with those described by points-on said lever member when moved about its fulcrum axis; the other of said members having a tongue element fixed thereto and arranged to fit within any selected one of said notches when said lever member is at one extremity of said lengthwise movement and to clear the surfaces defining said not-chesin a direction to effect engagement of said tongu element with said notches.

2. Operating mechanism fora damper comprising, in combination, a support; a lever adapted to be operatively connected to the damper; fulcrum means connecting the lever and support and providing for arcuate movement of said lever about an axis and for limited movement of said lever in a lengthwise direction; said lever including an operating member adapted to be grasped by hand to efiect the arcuate movement of said lever about its-fulcrum axis and to efiect the limited lengthwise movement of the lever; said lever having a plurality of notches formed therein and being arranged in an arc substantially concentric with those described by points on said lever when moved about its fulcrum axis; a tongue member fixed to said support and arranged to fit within any selected one of the notches when the lever'is at one extremity of its lengthwise movement and adapted to clear the surfaces defining the notches when the lever is at the other extremity of its lengthwise movement; and spring means connecting said lever and said support and constructed to urge the lever lengthwise'in-a direction to effect engagement of the tongue and the notches so as to hold the lever and damper at any desired position.

3. Operating mechanism for a damper comprising, in combination, a support: a fulcrum pin carried by said support; a lever adapted to be operatively connected to the damper and having a slot therein extending lengthwise thereof andreceiving said pin; said lever including an operating member having a portion adapted to be grasped by hand to effect movement of said lever about its fulcrum and to effect movement of said lever lengthwise an amount determined by the ,length of the slot; said lever having a plurality of notches formed therein and being arranged in an are substantially concentric with those described by points on said lever when moved about its fulcrum axis; a tongue fixed to said support and arranged to fit any selected one of the notches when the fulcrum pin is at one end of the slot and to clear the surfaces defining the notches when the fulcrum pin is at the other end of the slot; and a spring connecting the lever and support and constantly urging the lever lengthwise in a direction to effect the engagement of the tongue and the notches so as to hold the lever and damper at a desired position.

4. Operating mechanism for a damper comprising, in combination, a support; a lever adapted to be operatively connected to the damper; fulcrum means connecting the lever and support and providing for arcuate movement of said lever about an axis and for limited movement of said lever in a lengthwise direction; an operating member fixed to one end of the lever and movable therewith and including a curved edge D tion facing away from the fulcrum and lying in an are substantially concentric with those described by points on said lever when moved about its fulcrum axis; said operating member having a plurality of notches formed in said edge portion opening away from the fulcrum; a tongue member fixed to said support and arranged to fit within any selected one of the notches when the lever is at one extremity of its lengthwisemovement and adapted to clear the projecting surfaces defining the notches when the lever is at the other extremity of its lengthwise movement; and

spring means connecting said lever and said support and constructed to urge the lever lengthwise in a direction to effect engagement of the tongue and the notches so as to hold the lever and damper at any desired position.

5. In ventilating apparatus, walls defining an enclosing casing structure; a damper for controlling the fiow of air through said casing structure; a supporting member arranged within the plane of and carried by one of said defining walls and having an opening therein connecting the interior and exterior of the casing; a lever arranged interiorly cf the casing; fulcrum means arranged interiorly of the casing and carried by said supporting member and connected to said lever to provide-for arcuate movement'of said lever about an axis arranged approximately parallel to the plane of said one defining wall and to provide for limited lengthwise movement of said lever; link and extending through said opening in the supporting member and exteriorly of said one defining wall; said operating member being in the form of an arcuate-shaped sector arranged with its curved surfaces arranged in arcs substantially concentric with those described by spaced points on said lever when moved about its fulcrum axis; spaced notches formed in the curved surface of said operating member which is remote from said fulcrum, and opening away from said fulcrum; a fixed tongue arranged to engage within any selected one of said notches when the lever is at one extremity of its lengthwise movement and to clear the surfaces defining said notches when the lever is at its other extremity; and means for urging said lever lengthwise so as to effect engagement of said tongue and notches.

FRANCIS C. KILB. 

